Bryan Fuller's Hannibal picked up as TV series

NBC has made the decision to pick up a TV series based on Hannibal, the infamous fictional serial killer that Anthony Hopkins played so memorably in three movies, beginning with The Silence of the Lambs. The pilot was written by Bryan Fuller, creator of the quirky Pushing Daisies ABC series.

13 episodes of the show have been asked for by the network. No casting has taken place yet but if NBC steps on it the show should be ready for fall broadcast.

The Hannibal series begins with the cannibalistic serial killer locked up. The agent that caught Dr. Lecter, FBI behavioral expert Will Graham, is just starting to go to the killer for insight into the minds of other human predators the bureau wants to catch. That makes it around the events of Red Dragon, well before Lecter met Clarice Starling in the Lambs story.

Such a well-known character as Dr. Hannibal Lecter on television will undoubtedly be closely watched by the media. Whomever is cast as the doctor will have their performance scrutinized and compared to Hopkins, who won an award for his performance in The Silence of the Lambs.

Another question:, is there enough fodder in the Graham/Lecter relationship to carry a full season of 22 episodes? Probably, with someone like Fuller behind the scenes. How much of the adult gore will make it to network television? That's the real mystery to wonder about.